Author: brooksvillebrewing

Thank You

For An Amazing Grand Opening!

What an amazing Grand Opening we had at the Brooksville Brewing Company. With plenty of great beer, great food, and a live performance by Rick Stoots. What a way to kick off Brooksville Brewing, and there is plenty more to come, so be sure to check on us every week and also tell all of your friends.

Brooksville Brewing opens taproom to complement its restaurant sales.

by Beth N. Gray, Times Correspondent

SPRING HILL — While Brooksville Brewing Co. harks back to the era of explorer Hernando de Soto, what its brewmasters are doing today is decidedly ultramodern. And the outcome is being served up in its newly opened taproom, which gives a nod to both centuries. In its most recent incarnation, under the ownership of Keith Krueger, the brewery returned to production last year, primarily providing its ales and lagers to area restaurants. Now it has reopened a taproom with a view of its giant fermenting tanks and copper cooking vats, while keeping its products in restaurants, with expansion plans for both endeavors. “We call it production brewing,” said Krueger, 56, who shies away from the label “craft brewing,” a phrase he considers faddish rather than serious. Yet the 15 ales and lagers available on tap at Brooksville Brewing at any one time meet the definition of “craft,” being concocted in small batches. “We believe in just making great beer,” Krueger said. “What’s special is we use the Belgium system” of brewing, meaning twice-filtered. “This gives us more opportunity to step up the temperature,” which results in the ability to turn out more flavors since varied flavors are attained at different temperatures. “Most brews are the American system with one filter.”

But, even before the cooking of grains and hops, their fermenting from two to eight weeks, the brewery performs its first hocus-pocus, scouring the basic municipal water, returning it to its original two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen. Period. “We strip it down to pure, no impurities, and rebuild any water profile in the world by adding what we want, rebuilding to enhance the styles of brews we’re serving daily,” Krueger said. Among the offerings, the most popular are Mermaid gold ale, “refreshing with a dry finish;” Galaxy India pale ale, “a traditional American with a fairly strong hop finish,” and Hot Head red ale, “robust caramel malt with a hop finish.”

The brewery also turns out seasonal fruit flavors, currently a Great Pumpkin ale. “I think it will continue to grow,” Krueger said of the trend of beer drinkers “going from regular beer to craft. We have a lot of people going through transition, their tastes,” as palates become educated. “Our beers are for an evening out,” Krueger said, as opposed to bar drinking, where capacity consumption is often the aim. “We’re all about quality of experience.”

The classy copper bar top and the historic photos and documents adorning walls are standouts. The taproom’s upscale bar food menu complements the potables, the chef utilizing the beers as ingredients. The menu touts beer shrimp and sausage boil, sour ale ceviche and jalapeno rolls with raspberry beer sauce, among other items. A couple of sports bars that once rented the brewery’s vast restaurant space failed. Krueger believes he can succeed by starting small in the 49-seat tap room, then growing as the brewery builds a clientele. Meanwhile, the Brooksville Brewing label can be found at a half-dozen Hernando County establishments, from Brian’s Place in Hernando Beach to Brooksville Country Club, and also at places in Palm Harbor, Dunedin and New Port Richey.

“Our intent in the near future is to be in Naples and Orlando,” added Krueger, who also holds majority ownership in 27 other businesses, mainly in food service. Back at the taproom, Krueger said he and his brewery staff of 11 are looking forward to growing with the addition of an outdoor patio, where patrons can add sunsets to their “quality experience.”

This article was submitted to the Hernando Sun Magazine

by

Rocco Maglio

There is a new microbrewery called Brooksville Brewing Company located on US 19 a little south of Spring Hill Drive in the former Rookie’s Restaurant location. They are not new to brewing beer since they have been brewing in the location off and on since 2010.

The location has been home to a number of restaurants: Longshots, Duke’s, American Grill, Passports, and Rookies. The Brooksville Brewing Company is comprised of a portion of the building that held these restaurants. They purchased the tap room, patio, and brewery. They do not own the other area or sign. This means that the Rookie’s sign will stay there even though the brewery is open.

Seating is cozy in the tap room which can hold up to 45 people. There is a large couch and the feel is more of what you would expect from a coffee shop than a bar. The owner Keith Krueger said he wanted to “Create an atmosphere where people can have a beer and communicate.” He intends for it to be a quiet place to have a drink and talk with friends. They do not plan to have loud music. The tap room is currently open Friday and Saturday from 5pm to 10pm.

They plan to improve the patio by adding around 50 more seats outside and adding a covered area. They also plan to add a fire pit for cool nights.

Brooksville Brewing Company has eight beers on tap: Mermaids Gold, Coffee Pale Ale, India Pale Lager, Hot Head Red, American Brown, Oak Aged Red, Lucky’s Milk Stout, and Galaxy IPA. The will have two additional taps that will rotate other craft beers. If you do not drink beer, they serve wine from two local wineries: Brookstone and Copp. If you do not drink alcohol they also have soda and water.

I tried a couple of their beers: Lucky Milk Stout and Galaxy IPA. The Lucky Milk Stout was dark, rich, and very smooth. I enjoy a Guinness from time to time and would not mind having a Milk Stout instead. The IPA was flavorful and had a dark rich color.Brooksville Brewing Company offers a tour of the brewery Saturday, October 8th at 3pm. They plan to offer the tour for several Saturdays. You can sign up for the tour on facebook and it costs $15. The tour includes a private tasting and you can take home a 64 ounce growler with your choice of their beers.

Keith owns Bagels and Beyond and a number of Papa John’s pizza restaurants throughout the state. He apparently really loves carbs, so adding a brewery was a natural fit. He says he grew up hearing stories of a relative from Brooksville who use to brew beer a long time ago. He used those childhood stories to create the legend of Duke. The name Krueger is well known in the beer industry Krueger Beer was the first to can beer in 1935.

Keith also owns LMD Distributors, which can sell Brooksville Brewing Company’s beers to restaurants and bars. The law requires alcohol to be distributed by a licensed distributor, so many craft brewers are only able to sell their beer on the premises of the their brewery. Keith said that the capacity of the brewery was 100,000 gallons a year, so he intends to distribute Brooksville Brewing Company’s beers throughout the local area. Keith mentioned they started contacting local restaurants a week ago and they have signed up the Rising Sun Bistro, Lucky Dill, Brian’s Place, Jersey’s, Evom and Horse and Crown.

The Brooksville Brewing Company has big plans and they make a good pint. You can try their beer at the tap room or in the near future your favorite restaurant.